Author: Tanya Chris
Dreamspun Desires Series
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Alexandria Corza
Publication Date: September 3, 2019
Length: 227 Pages
Reviewed by Morningstar
Synopsis
The course of true love runs through every neighborhood….
Only one thing stands between Gregory MacPherson II and his dream revitalization project for the gritty neighborhood of Ball’s End: a rinky-dink, run-down used bookstore called Hailey’s Comic. But when master negotiator Mac shows up to make a deal with the owner, he comes face-to-face with quirky, colorful Hailey—unexpectedly good-humored about Mac’s attempted eviction and, also unexpectedly, a hot guy.
Hailey won’t give up his lease, no matter how much money Mac offers. When it comes to consummating their mutual attraction, though, he’s a lot more flexible. Soon Mac has as hard a time prying himself out of Hailey’s bed as he does prying Hailey out of the building. But Hailey doubts Mac’s plans serve Ball’s End’s best interests, and he insists Mac give him a chance to prove his case. If they’re going to build a happy ever after, one of them will have to be remade….
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Review
Sadly, this book was not what I thought it would be. I did
something with this book I never do and that’s write notes down while reading
it because it frustrated me that much.
First, for the first time reading a book that was single POV
I can say it did a huge disservice to the story and understanding both sides of
the story. Hearing everything from Mac’s POV made me feel like Mac did. Every
step of the way—even now that I finished the book—I question if Hailey truly
loved Mac for Mac. Everything was about Mac changing. And I never felt the
emotions from Hailey toward Mac that I felt from Mac for Hailey.
Second, yes, Mac was a butt to the max with his snobby
attitude at the beginning of the story, but I didn’t think he deserved to be
treated the way he was. What do I mean by that? Hailey was built up like he was
the perfect character/guy. Legit like he had NO flaws. Which is impossible and
believe me just reading this story I found his flaws even if that wasn’t meant
to happen. He was just as much of a butt as Mac. No one is perfect and everyone
needs to go through some evolution of change in stories. Hailey had lessons to
learn as well. Life isn’t a fairy tale and life doesn’t work as he wanted.
Capitalism is a thing we have to live with and that fact that Mac went and not
only changed who he was but also changed how his company fundamentally worked
while Hailey got to sit back and give NOTHING killed me inside.
Third, by the end of the story, I hated Hailey and his
holier than thou personality and Mac’s BFF Declan had it right when he asked
what he gets in return. Yeah Mac was made a better man by seeing how the people
in Balls End lived and how his project affected them. But that was not Hailey’s
doing, that was Mac’s because Relationship Rule 101 you can’t change a person
unless they want it.
Fourth, the “Love Resume” scene at the end came across
condescending AF from Hailey. Yeah Mac (who Hailey called Greg because Mac was
a nickname) was feeling insecure, crap, I felt insecure with him the whole way
not knowing whether Hailey loved him or just found him hot but the way that
scene was handled felt like a “oh you silly boy” thing than Hailey trying to
show Mac what was so great about him especially when the reason he gave for
loving Mac was that he was trying to change for Hailey.
Lastly, that last line of the book (told from Hailey’s POV a
little too late IMO) summed what I felt this story was truly about…
“He was exactly who
Greg wanted, and he hadn’t had to change a bit.”
That is not how relationships go and all it did was make me
not like Hailey and feel bad for Mac for falling for someone so self-centered.
Sadly, like I said this was a miss for me. It may be just my
personal opinion but I can’t brush my feelings off when reading a book because
emotions are vital to how a book affects us.
I will say grammar, sentence structure, all the technical
stuff in regards to the book were wonderful so while this was a miss for me you
may see it differently and encourage you to give it a read.
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